Hear Me Out
by OhMyRaito
Summary: When a murder takes place, Naruto finds himself pitted against the Akatsuki and the dirty underworld of Minneapolis. Coupled with the confusing forensic scientist with too many secrets, Naruto wonders if he'll ever manage to crack this case. NaruSasuNaru
1. The Best Part of Believe Is The 'Lie'

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would be bastardy in the _good _way, and not in the way where he runs off to a paedophile and makes my sister phone me up at three in the morning to scream about it. Fangirls. You amuse me.

* * *

Hear Me Out

_'Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it.' _- Jewish Holy Scripture Psalm 34:14

* * *

Henry Patrowski was a good man. He went to church two times a week, didn't drink, smoke or do drugs. When he was younger, he didn't look up girl's skirts (well, not after Mary-Ann hit him that one time) or pull the wings off of flies - in fact, he cried at documentaries of wild animals. Apart from that one August day when he jumped off the roof of the garage, sure in the belief he could fly, he was a steady, sturdy man. 

And when he left school, this didn't change. He got himself a steady job, then took a risk and bought a car dealership when he was twenty and his grandma died, leaving him a small fortune. He was handsome, rich and drove a foreign car. Henry was the kind of man that mothers told their daughters to catch, and daughters passed up for the 'bad boys'.

All in all, Henry lived a good life. He was forty-two, had a wife and three kids, lived a cookie-cutter neighbourhood and paid his taxes on time. Apart from when his wife was giving birth to their second child, he had never run a red light, let alone committed any crimes.

So really, there was no good reason to find him stone cold dead on a warehouse floor, a 2mm bullet hole through his head.

_

* * *

_

"_All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade…away…again._" Steel surfaces winked as the fluorescent lighting streamed down onto the city's Crime Lab. Various machines hummed, blinked and growled. Sasuke was in the middle of replicating DNA from chewing gum using PCR when his beeper went off. He sighed, pushed his black-rimmed glasses higher with one digit, and then checked the display. A murder? He frowned, raised an eyebrow, then continued with the procedure. Another day, another crime…It wasn't that surprising. He had a lot of work to do before the next lot of DNA came in, and he still had that appointment to go to later. Turning up Fuel, he walked down between two white pristine counters that glinted in the bright lighting, and plucked the slab gel from the cupboard. For now, he'd just focus on the science in front of him. It was safer, anyway.

* * *

Minneapolis was one of those cities that held her skirts high above the mud and filth, with a wrinkle of her dainty nose. It had an underbelly - what American city didn't? - with the hookers, the johns, the high school kids cruising around late at night with music blaring, high on E, but Minneapolis was trying her damnedest to shame these people into turning themselves around. Naruto thought it was one of the only places left in the world where shame was thought of as the Cure All, and the weather was the hot topic of the day. It was in the old industrial district, where the warehouses lined cobbled streets dotted with a light drizzle, that Henry was found. The old warehouses lately had been selling up, remodelled as fancy little restaurants or eateries, the prissy little city getting her own way yet again. Detective Uzumaki wondered what happened to the men whose lives had depended upon the hard labour. 

It was a dreary day, the grey surroundings better suited for London than anywhere else. A small crowd, not offput by the rain, crowded around the opening of the warehouse. Murder was big news in this town, and officers had already been put out front to deal with the gawkers. Bright yellow tape strung around the open entrance to the warehouse shouted 'CRIME HERE' and made Naruto think of 'Big Yellow Taxi'. He headed towards a young man with a baby face and blue eyes, fresh as a nickel and twice as shiny. Naruto reckoned he still spit-shined his shoes. _Give that a year, and he'll be just like the rest of us. _Reaching into the pocket of his black felt coat, he pulled out his badge and flashed it to the officer. His eyes flicked to it, then back to Naruto's eyes.

" Morning Detective Uzumaki." His face was grim, slightly pale, and Naruto wondered if it was his first murder scene. He was handling it better than Naruto had, who, upon seeing the bloated face of the jogger who'd fallen in the Mississippi River and never got back out, had puked three times in a row 'til his throat was raw and bloody. Kiba had never let him live it down.

" Morning. Detective Inuzuka here?"

" Inuzuka...guy with red markings on his face, spiky hair?" Naruto nodded, silently congratulating the guy for withholding some of the more common adjectives used to describe his partner, such as 'loudmouth' 'rude' and 'slightly paunchy'. The kid would make a good cop, he decided, and if he kept the snappy dressing up, he and his diplomatic skills could go all the way to chief of police.

" He and some of the guys went to question the owners of the other warehouses, and some joggers."

" Who found the body?" Naruto had looked around earlier, and had been highly suspicious upon seeing no barfing kid or shock-stricken jogger.

" Cops did, answering an anonymous call about a disturbance." Naruto nodded, thanked him cheerlessly.

He ducked under the yellow tape, tried thinking of anything but the tune to 'Big Yellow Taxi'. _Damn you, Jonie Mitchell, damn you. _Hands in his pockets in an attempt to fend off the cold, he examined the warehouse. Looked like a typical abandoned warehouse to him - smashed out windows, used johnnies on the floor and those weird patches of random water that he'd never found a source for but nevertheless haunted every warehouse he'd ever been in. Which had been quite a few. _Damn murderers are running out of imagination._

He nodded to Kakashi, the head of the CSIs, as he chatted to one of the younger CSIs, lecturing her about something or another. Kakashi wielded a cottonbud at the poor girl, and Naruto understood. Some geek in the forensics labs had been moaning about the evidence collections, complaining that it took too long trying to separate the DNA from the fibres. He'd mentioned an alternative, but the kids had been taught to use cottonbuds, and damn if that college education was going to waste.

Naruto's coat banged against his legs as he walked towards Sarutobi. The old man was rubbing the small of his back with a wrinkled, liver-spotted hand as two men from the coroner's department shifted a black bag containing the body of Patrowski onto a stretcher. At the sound of approaching footsteps, the old man turned and gave a small smile to one of the few people he could honestly say he loved like a son. Looking at him now, with his brow furrowed in thought and his blue eyes stormy, it was hard to imagine him as a young, sunny blonde with the widest eyes Sarutobi had ever seen and hair like sunlight. The kid had lived on the streets, living a not-so-crime-free life for the first fifteen years of his life, and so had spent a lot of time at the precinct. A lot of the guys there had grown attached to the little fellow and none of them had been surprised to see him enter law enforcement.

" Hey, Naruto." The old man's voice was warm and crinkly, like parchment read by candlelight, and Naruto thought it was alien in the warehouse. He smiled back nevertheless.

" Hey, old man. They pull you away from your bingo game?" He grinned.

" Watch your tongue, you." They both winced as one of the young men lost their grip and Henry Patrowski's body fell to the floor with a sickening mix of _thump _and _crunch._ The clumsy young man looked up at Sarutobi with a sheepish face and hurriedly picked up the corner again, the two men moving with renewed haste. A harsh grating sound echoed and bounced from one grey wall to another as the boys zipped the black bag shut, and started rolling the cart outside.

" What's your diagnosis, Doctor?" Naruto asked, looking sideways at the pathologist.

" If you'd been here earlier, you would've been able to hear it with your partner. He was worried sick you know, but don't tell him I told you." The man's voice was scolding, and Naruto again wondered why it sounded so weird here. The man had been doing these kind of scenes since before Naruto was born, and yet he still didn't fit there. The man sighed, and started talking again, having received nothing but a smirk from Naruto. " Tiny hole. Very clean. Either this guy was shot by a professional, or it was an incredibly lucky shot. Or unlucky, as the case may be."

" Twenty-two?"

" Ask the guys in forensics. But it's very likely, yes."

Naruto sighed, rocked back on the balls of his feet. " Personal effects?"

" The man's name was Henry Patrowski, 42, married and lives in a good neighbourhood. My sister lives near there." At Naruto's slightly questioning look, the old man explained himself. " Wallet in his pocket, driving license. Whoever killed him didn't take pains to cover up his identity."

Naruto sighed again. " Doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence." Sarutobi looked sharply at the boy, suddenly noting his down attitude. _Maybe homicide wasn't right for him, after all..._" If they left that, then there's a good chance the perp's not even connected with the victim. Another dead-end murder, no doubt. And now we have to go deal with the widow." _Ah. _" I'll go find Kiba."

* * *

" _This one world vision turns us into compromise. What good's religion, when it's each other we despise?_" 

It was four hours later when Kakashi poked his head in through the glass doors of Sasuke's lab, and smiled. " Yoohoo, Sasuke." Sasuke looked over, then looked back at his work dismissively. The older man sauntered into the lab, smelling of corpse, cold and Channel no.5. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

" Getting up close and personal to the new kids again, Kakashi?" He'd seen the blonde girl, looking pink, pretty and flushed with the joy of a new job. He'd steered clear.

" Well, you know, not all of us can be unsociable bastards like yourself." The masked man chucked some brown bags on the table, their tops marked with the red tape, sealed. " I want these to be your top priority."

Sasuke sighed, rolled his shoulders as he concentrated on separating DNA from cotton fibres. " I'll get there when I get there, Kakashi." Brian Molko told Kakashi to dry his eyes, and Sasuke moved to another counter. He didn't even spare the brown bags a glance.

" Yeah. Just make sure 'there' is less than two hours into the future. I've a feeling this case is going to blow wide open." Kakashi's voice was deceptively lazy. Sasuke had long been of the opinion that Kakashi tried to make himself a contradiction - a lazy appearance, a soft drawl, but razor sharp wit and a work ethic that left others gasping. Sasuke didn't mind much. The fast pace of the labs suited him, and Kakashi asked no questions. No one asked questions here.

* * *

The car door of the five year old Sedan slammed shut, and both men left out a deep breath they'd been holding. The air was subdued. Kiba leant back, his eyes painful to look at. Naruto stared out the window for a few minutes, then started the car up. There was silence in the car apart from the rumble of the engine, then Kiba spoke up. 

" Man, I _hate _doing that. Every time, they...they..." There was silence once more as Kiba found himself unable to put his feelings into words. Naruto could sympathise. Mrs Patrowski had answered the door with a floral apron and flour dusted on her cheeks. A kid, about two years old, had been cutting cookies out of homemade cookie dough in the kitchen. The house had been a happy, typically suburban house, full of life, laughter and happiness.

They'd destroyed that in the short time it took to say 'We're sorry ma'am, but a body was found with your husband's identification. Could you please come and identify the body?'.

" Go home, Kiba. Hinata's probably still there. Go home, and bring me some of her baking powder biscuits tomorrow, okay?" Naruto's voice was warm and no-nonsense. He hated these days too, but knew it was especially hard on Kiba. Every time he went to deliver the bad news, he saw Hinata there instead of the new widow, and how badly his death would affect the woman he loved.

" Nah, Naruto, this is a lot of work and - " Naruto cut Kiba off.

" Don't be stupid. You won't work properly in this state anyway. I'll send some of the boys to talk to his neighbours, get a good look at his personality and who his enemies were. I'll go talk to Sarutobi and Kakashi, and call you if anything comes up. Okay?" There wasn't really any choice in the matter as they pulled up outside Kiba's house. His partner shot Naruto a grateful look and got out of the car. The door was already opening, Hinata's concerned face appearing in the crack of the open door, and Naruto wished there was someone at home to worry about him like that. The rumble of the car vibrated through his thighs as he left the curb.

* * *

" _All the angels I know put concrete in my veins._" Sasuke was staring at the red cloud on a black background. 

He'd opened the bags soon after Kakashi left, having finished the DNA sampling and placing it in a DNA profiling program. There were tons of evidence, clothes, the wallet, and the bullet from the head. He'd started on the clothes. Nothing too impressive, lint in the pockets, a stick of gum. And then the card, stuck in the man's breast pocket of his suit jacket.

He'd found it five minutes ago, and hadn't moved from the spot since. Then, with careful movements, so controlled that you could practically see the fear moving them, puppeteering with little strings of pure terror, Sasuke continued his analysis of the evidence.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his eyes, took a sip of his black coffee and then turned his attention back to the crime scene photos. Due to his late arrival, he hadn't seen the body, and now he had, he was wishing he hadn't. Henry had been a good looking man, forty-two and only just turning to fat. A testament of a good diet and too many kids' cookies. Sighing, he stood up and headed towards the toilets. 

When he came back, feeling better for the quick wash of cold water, he found a beautiful man sitting in his chair, attracting all kinds of surreptitious stares from the cops in the room. God, how Naruto hated beautiful people. This one was twirling black rimmed glasses on his finger as he examined the crime scene photos with a passive face. Naruto wondered if he was human.

He cleared his throat. The black man looked up, and black eyes locked with blue. A rich, smooth timber (_dark chocolate, _Naruto thought) broke into the moment. " Detective Uzumaki?"

" Who wants to know?" He wondered why his own voice sounded whiny and raspy in comparison.

There was a snort, and a raised eyebrow. " Sasuke Uchiha." Ignoring the way several heads flicked up in response to his answer, he stood up, and offered his hand to Naruto. " I'm the forensic scientist working on the Patrowski case." Naruto took his hand, noticed how it was papery and dry, then asked the question that first popped into his head.

" Akatsuki's Itachi's younger brother?" There was near silence in the surrounding area now.

Another snort, and Sasuke dropped his hand, folded up the glasses and placed them in his pocket. " What brilliant deductions, Uzumaki. You should be a detective with those kind of skills."

" Shut the fuck up Uchiha, we don't want your kind he -" Another cop broke into the tense atmosphere, too many cups of coffee, late nights and years of frustration.

" Shut up, Kankurou." Naruto said. " What do you want, Sasuke?" The muscles in his body were coiled, and he tried to calm himself down with mundane, routine questions, although the situation was anything but. Itachi's younger brother...

" Here." The brunet handed him a polaroid. Naruto took his eyes from Sasuke's long enough to examine it, and when they flicked back up to Sasuke's, surprise and a little fear was evident. " Found it in Patrowski's clothes."

" Patrowski was an Akatsuki hit?" The room increased in tense atmosphere, and Naruto dreaded calling his partner up and telling him.

" No." Naruto's attention rounded on the Uchiha again, who almost winced from the intensity. " It's a copy-cat. There was a long hair found on the clothes, and I managed to get DNA from it. Also, if you examine the crime scene, it's too sloppy to be an Akatsuki. Plus, a warehouse?" Another derisive snort. " Please. They have more imagination than that."

Ignoring the way Sasuke echoed his own thoughts of earlier this morning, Naruto looked back at the photos on his desk, then the one in his hand. " That would mean someone knows about the Akatsuki murders."

There was a slow clap. " Well _done_, Uzumaki." Sasuke said sarcastically, lowering his hands to his side again.

A burst of anger rocketed through Naruto. " Shut up, Uchiha. For a damn geek, you know a lot about these Akatsuki killings." His voice was hot, his eyes narrowed. The brunet's attitude was finally getting to him.

There was silence, and Naruto watched as Sasuke's eyes darkened and his whole body got tense. When he spoke his voice was clear, and mockingly light. " Of course. Itachi may be an Akatsuki, but he was an Uchiha first." The brunet walked closer, and Naruto almost felt suffocated by the amount of raw power and intense anger he radiated. He plucked the polaroid from Naruto's fingers and walked out the room." Be seeing you, detective."

* * *

**A/N: **Yup, prepare to see my English culture mixing with Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, and CSI. A change of pace from _Tension_, but got this in my head and it wouldn't go away. I quite like it.

Songs:

" _All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade...away...again_" - Shimmer by Fuel. Also called 'So Far Away'.

" _This one world vision turns us into compromise. What good's religion when it's each other we despise?_" - Soulmate by Placebo.

" _All the angels I know out concrete in my veins._" - Nothing to Lose by Billy Talent.

Placebo just suit Sasuke.


	2. Backless Black Dress

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did, Deidara would have much more screentime and both arms. The poor baby. How does he hug people?

Okay, now before you all go getting all nasty and 'This wasn't in the summary! I'm leaving!', yes there is sasusaku action...**BUT **it's integral to the plot and Sasuke's character in this. Please, hear me out -blinks at the unintentional use of the title, then grins- Sasuke and Sakura are in a relationship, yup yup, we've established that. But this fic is a **narusasunaru fic. **Okay? We all knew it would never be that easy for our lads anyway...

Don't hate me?

* * *

Hear Me Out

' _There's nowhere left to hide, in no one to confide. The truth runs deep inside, and will never die._ ' - Muse.

* * *

Sasuke followed Sakura with his eyes. Her black stiletto heels were dangling from a finger, and her stockinged feet skipped across the pavement, slippery with water. It'd rained when they were in the restaurant, and had only stopped fifteen minutes ago. They'd run from alcove to shop door to alleyway, forgoing the cabs for a run in the rain. It made Sakura feel alive, she said, and Sasuke, well, he was trying. Her backless black dress was soaked to the skin and her creamy skin shone like a beacon in the night, calling out for him to come and wrap his arms around a surely freezing body. 

She looked over her shoulder at him, green eyes glinting in the dim streetlight with something that took his breath away because it was so very _alive. _White teeth flashed as she grinned something mischievous, then started tiptoeing on the outside of a fountain. He stopped just short of where she was, hands in his pockets, black tie wrapped around his wrist, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the cufflinks long gone. He didn't know where they were. Probably down that street with the shop that sold homemade jewellery upstairs and dope downstairs. Cocking his head to the side, he admired the view, a soft smile on his lips.

Long legs wrapped in gauzy material, a shimmery black dress that looked cool to touch and that brilliant pink hair gathered at the nape of her neck with a few loose strands having escaped in their mad dash, plastered to her wet, goose-pimpled skin. Just skin and bones, Sasuke knew, but she made it look beautiful, unique, like no one else could possibly wear life this well. She was tiptoeing across the slippery bricks, the fountain turned off but the water still in the bottom. He walked up to her, and she swivelled on one foot.

" You look like a flamingo." He said, and she laughed. He watched it dance in her eyes, and his smile grew.

" A flamingo working for the Men in Black, natch." She winked, and turned clockwise to continue her parody of ballet on the impromptu stage, but turned a little too far and wobbled dangerously on one leg. Her eyes went wide, and she reached instinctively for Sasuke, even as she fell backwards into the water. There was a gigantic splash, and then silence, as though the whole world was hushed after their performance.

They lay in a compromising position on the fountain floor, dirty recycled water and he didn't want to know what else swimming in and out of their clothes. She took in a shaky breath, the shock of the fall having stolen it for a few seconds, and looked up from underneath eyelashes at him, wary. Her breath was stolen yet again. He was smiling, laughter doing a pirouette in _his _eyes now, and he reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

" You look like a drowned flamingo, now." And she laughed, was still laughing, even when he placed his lips on hers.

* * *

The squad room stank of sweat, take-out and cigarette smoke, banned now and forever mourned. The scents seeped from the plaster and woodwork, creating a memory of an atmosphere, ingrained so deeply in a cop's mind that they'd never quite escape it. It was part of the package, they knew, the whole _once a cop, always a cop _deal, as much a part of the lifestyle as the oath was. 

They all knew it, and they all loved it, respected it, because that was how it should be. The squad room should smell of late nights and pisser cases and bad food and frustration mounting until you finally had to go down to the shooting range and release some tension. It was a tribute, the olfactory museum that a cop visited near every damn day of his life, to the people that didn't get closure,who didn't have their murderer locked up or killed, that sometimes were never found. And that was important, thought Naruto, that was really important.

His hands cradled his head and he made a low noise in the back of the throat. He'd called Kiba earlier, and it had taken every ounce of his persuasion to keep Kiba where he belonged - with Hinata and not with Naruto. The condition had been that Naruto go home too, but one thought of a Budweiser by a flickering TV set made him change his mind, locked his limbs to his chair and his eyes to the computer screen.

When Sasuke had left, with that damned stupid over-dramatic exit (_'...an Uchiha first'_) and that even more damned Polaroid, it had taken everything in him to call Kiba first and not start pulling up files on the Akatsuki members. There was no need, really. He knew almost everything to know about them, was part of that research team. The Akatsuki were more powerful than the mob, and yet hardly any of the public knew about them. So how the hell...?

He didn't want to think it was a law personnel. Didn't want to have to take it to the Chief, and have his colleagues hating him as do-gooders and FBI personnel scoured every inch of their lives. But every time someone walked past his desk, dragging a waft of cold air and that squad room smell with them, he looked up and his body tensed, searching for anything that would tell him it was them. He snorted. What was he expecting, a giant placard with 'I am Akatsuki's biggest fan' sticking out from their back pocket? The majority of them didn't even know about the Akatsuki, well, the details anyway. The first whiff of something like that happening in a case, and someone in the research team snapped it up with the deepest of apologies to the colleagues they'd just snubbed.

A lot of the people in the research team were disliked by their colleagues, but it was necessary. Too many people knowing about Akatsuki would lead to...well, this. Akatsuki's sloppy imitator. He sighed, leant back in his chair and rolled his neck. The soft scent of coffee assaulted his senses and he opened his eyes. Temari was stood by his desk, a Starbucks container in hand and held out to him.

" Hey there, kid. Pulling a double shift?" Her voice was soft southern, warm and homey. Southerners didn't say 'hi', Naruto had noticed, they said 'hey', also used to draw the attention of people or to show an objection. That kind of 'hey' is expelled with too much air and the ending is truncated. Temari's 'hey' was airless, with four 'a's. It made Naruto smile.

" Hey, Tem. Yeah, guess so. This one's kinda pulling at me, you know?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and accepted the cup. The heat hit his hand immediately, and he smiled even as it made him drowsy.

" How so?" She shoved some papers aside, perched herself on the edge of his beaten, stained desk. A hand reached up to smooth hair behind an ear, and she patted her ponytails.

" Mm, could be a cop..." He watched as her eyes widened to comic proportions, and carried on. " But I'm hoping to God, Buddha and all things Hindu that it's just some civvie with a nasty life." She gulped, took a sip of her own drink. He watched it go down her throat, noted the way her eyes focussed on one thing. Temari had a sharp brain, especially when it came to things like strategy. Last year, she'd got herself involved in a kidnapping case, had it all sorted after a couple of hours. Temari was made of the stuff of legends, and she sure as hell knew it.

She grinned that feral grin at him, colour returning to her face. " Well, hell, blondy, what're you so uptight about? Just work the civvie angle _and_ the cop angle. Keep the cop deal on the down-low, you know? No need to tell the chief. Or call him up, say you've got it covered, and you'll fill him in later. Got it, kid?"

There was a pause, then a slow-growing grin of smug satisfaction. " Yeah...and I know just the person to help me...Wanna meet someone special, Tem?" There was a challenge in his eyes, and Temari met them for a short silent moment. She had no doubt that this visit wouldn't be entirely legal.

" Sure. Let me just tell Sai that I'm off." She hopped off the desk, and sauntered towards her partner, patting Genma on the head. He shouted out 'Sexual harassment! Raidou! Did you see that?!' and Naruto chuckled as he took a sip from his drink. The caffeine immediately combated the drowsiness, or maybe he just thought it did.

* * *

Strains of soft piano music filtered through the apartment door, an odd contrast to the armour embedded in the doorframe. Naruto knew that there were tripwires all over the place and that their presence had been noticed ten minutes before they'd even entered the building. He wondered if Temari had noticed the extra security, but wouldn't blame her if she hadn't. A genius had hidden it, after all. 

He raised his fist, knocked three times in quick succession. The door was opened five minutes later by a long-legged blonde wearing men's boxer shorts and a top that Naruto recognised as his own. He happily inhaled the smell of turpentine and paint, smiled as the piano music turned into something recognisable. A paintbrush was held between two fingers, and her other hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment too long as she stared at Naruto. Then there was a squeal, and Ino hugged Naruto tightly, her arms flung around his neck in a tight embrace. He laughed and hugged her back, swung her around a little bit and laughed some more as her toes tickled the floorboards.

He drew back, and smiled sheepishly at Temari. " Temari, this is Ino. Yamanaka, actually, you might have heard of her?"

Temari's eyes widened as she held out her hand for Ino to shake. " The artist?" Her feral little grin showed again, and she said " Pleasure to meet you. My brother bought one of your paintings the other week..._The Orchid and the Tube_, I think it was called."

Ino's eyes widened, and Naruto tried not to snicker at the picture the two made. " Gaara's sister? I never knew he had any family." Temari shrugged carelessly, but Naruto knew her well enough to recognise the unease. He rubbed his hands together, smiled as the two girls redirected their attention to him.

" He here, Ino?" He asked, the grin tainting his voice.

She rolled her eyes. "Where else?"

Naruto laughed and shoved his hands back in his pockets, sauntering into the flat and motioning for Temari to follow him. " Make us some coffee, would you? Consider it payback for wearing my shirt to paint in." The blonde snorted, but went into the kitchen anyway. Naruto lead the way to a wooden door with a subtle 'keep out' sign on the front.

" What, is this 'special someone' five?" Temari sounded scornful, but it hid an undercurrent of curiosity.

Naruto laughed again, and Temari was glad to see his spirits lifting. " Nah, he's just...He likes his privacy." He knocked on the door, then entered the room with a swift turn of the knob. " Yo, Shika! Where are you, nerd?"

Temari examined the room with some kind of fascination. If she had to describe it, she'd say it looked like the place all things electrical came to die. Wires ran along the wall, along the floor, pooled in piles of multicoloured tangles. Playstations of all kinds lay around the room, blinking ferociously into the dim room, and she was surprised to see the main light source came from three computers, hooked up to too many harddrives. She voiced the first thought that came to her mind.

" I'd hate to see the electricity bill on this place."

" Good thing you never will, then." A disembodied voice stated, before the sound of rustling clothing and cracking bones filled the air. A sleepy man emerged from behind a pile of electronics, and stretched again. He focussed on the two, silhouetted in the doorway. " Naruto." He stated. " Che."

As he moved closer, Temari observed the long limbs of a lanky man, and a hairstyle that she could only say was born of hasty necessity rather than fashion. He eyed her in a similar fashion. " Troublesome. You brought a guest." Temari bristled.

" Mm, but you'll like her. She's a cop, too. Temari, meet Shikamaru. He's the top hacker in the States, so don't tell anyone you saw him." Temari shot Naruto a look, and examined Shikamaru in a more blatant fashion.

Musingly, she said, " Are you sure? He doesn't have the vocabulary of a hacker."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. " Shuttup, you fucktard. You're fail, Temari, epic fail." Temari laughed at the tone he delivered it in, the feral grin back on her face. It was only because there was so much warmth here that Naruto noticed the lack of it when introducing Ino.

" I like you." She stated, bluntly. Naruto smiled.

" Well, hell. Now my life's ambition has been achieved, what am I to do?" He rolled his eyes, but Naruto could see he was enjoying the banter. Shikamaru liked anything new and interesting, and Naruto was sure Temari would be interesting enough. " What do you want, Naruto?" His hands dug further into the pockets of his jeans as Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

" To monitor my colleagues." The statement was weak and feeble, but Shikamaru's eyes widened anyway. The clatter of metal on china broke the suddenly heavy atmosphere, and Ino walked into the gloomy room with a tray balanced on her hand. She smiled at Shikamaru, kissed him on the cheek and Temari noticed he didn't move away from the affection. Temari tilted her head, re-examining the blonde in this atmosphere.

She didn't fit, was Temari's conclusion. Her earthy smell, her pretty smile, her devil-may-care clothes and paint-splattered cheeks seemed too real, too beautiful for a room that was based in CSS, a haven for .html. The way she moved, with extra care as she laid down the drinks, seemed to prove that she knew this too. Temari suddenly felt sorry for her, smiled with extra sweetness as she accepted the drink. Ino's eyes widened, and then she turned away quickly.

" Sorry, Shika, I lost track of time. Got to go check on the shop. See you later, 'kay?" Ino hastily smiled, pulling her hair into a quick ponytail that left bumps and ridges along her scalp. She turned to the door, and Temari wondered at the lonely silhouette she made, a beautiful outline on yellow light. A quick smile was thrown over her shoulder, and Ino spoke again, her tones warm and mock scolding. " Naruto, get your lazy ass up here more often, will you? I'm fed up of having to chase you around."

" But it's good for my rep when you do, Ino!" Naruto teased as the blonde left the room, shaking her head slightly. There was a comfortable quiet when she left, broken by subtle slurps of coffee and the chink of china on china. When Shikamaru's voice came, it seemed to just blend in with the lazy afternoon soundtrack.

" Why do you want to monitor your colleagues, Naruto? You've got a whole government body dedicated to that." His tone was bored, again, and Temari wondered if he ever sounded interested in anything. Maybe if she started talking about the motherboard and how Star Trek was the greatest thing since sliced bread...

" Akatsuki copycat. Could be a cop." Naruto pulled at the fraying collar of his shirt.

" 'S unlikely. A cop who knew about the Akatsuki killings would know enough to make it look realistic and not fake." Came the slow reply.

There was a shrug from Naruto that upset his coffee, spilt a little bit on his hand. He licked it up, pink tongue darting out quick as a flash, then he shrugged again. " Need to be sure, Shika."

There was another pause, and Temari wondered what she was supposed to do. The two boys were sitting cross-legged with her on the floor, a wire sticking into her backside, yet they seemed to have forgotten about her. Naruto, anyway. Shikamaru kept darting quick glances at her, and every time she caught him, she felt a little bit more exposed.

" What's the woman for?" The remark was said casually enough, but she was a female cop and was well versed in the hidden sexist undertones. She radiated hostility. He seemed amused.

" She's going to help you." Temari's eyebrows shot up. Help? She was a cop too, a damn busy cop. She couldn't help Naruto just because...well, just because, really. " She's got inside information on the cops, will know which ones you should look into and which ones are really just duds." Naruto looked over at Temari apologetically. " I'm sorry, Tem, but I need this...Please?"

Well, hell, when he was looking at her with those big blues, how could she resist? She shrugged. " Am I gonna be working here?"

Shikamaru spoke. " Yeah. Here. In this room."

" I'll bring a chair." She said. Naruto smirked.

" Hey." She said as Naruto got up to leave, fifteen minutes later. Naruto winced, this 'hey' being short and attention-grabbing. " Give me warning, next time."

He smiled gratefully, then left what was probably the safest place on earth.

* * *

Cold kisses on feverish skin, soft brushes of fingertips on sensitised areas and low, throaty whispers that ghosted over her body. Sasuke did everything right, like he was supposed to, like he needed to, and when she feel asleep, a smile on her pretty little lips, he wondered why he didn't love her. 

He wondered why, when she spoke those words, it was so easy for him to lie. He wondered why he was with her, when he felt nothing but a kind of admiration for her bravery. He wondered why he felt cold, in these moments where she clung to him, where they melded and became one, where it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended.

The clock ticked, showed a time he was all too familiar with. He lifted himself out of her embrace, dressed himself in clothes that she'd bought him and slipped out of the front door. He wondered if he'd be able to find himself tonight.

* * *

Naruto walked the streets, listened to the clunk of his feet on pavement and lost himself in the sound. He didn't want to think, drowned it out with soft angry music that made him think of Mother and silver. There weren't many fast food restaurants in Minneapolis (it seemed the city was even able to shame Burger King) but the few ones there were broadcasted their bravery with fluorescent lights and décor embedded with subliminal messages. The bright lights of a passing car momentarily blinded Naruto and left the strains of Kanye West in his ears - '_work it, make it, do it, make us harder, better, faster, stronger!'_ - and he looked up in hispassing irritation. The sign of an IHOP screamed out to him, and he winced at how blatant the restaurant was. He walked past the windows that seemed as tall as the building, caught his breath as the overhead bright lighting made someone beautiful look ordinary. 

What the hell was Sasuke Uchiha doing in the IHOP?

* * *

**A/N: **And I'm leaving it there as I need to gather my thoughts and hell if this chapter took a beating...I tried to get it out but...A lot of writing isn't about inspiration, it's about hardwork, you know? And when I have inspiration, I'm fine, I'm great, I'm on fire...I produce things like _Of Coffee and Chipped Porcelain. _But then there are times when I'm just too stressed to pay attention to the inspiration and have to work through the little niggly bits that irritate me about the story and no one else seems to catch... 

The IHOP scene was planned for this chapter, but I want it to be good. I want it to be something I produce late at night, when I'm hovering on a knife blade between hysteria and exhaustion, because that's when I work best. So settle for some plot development, the (possibly death-warranting) SasuSaku...and let me work on the next chapter, 'cause this story's going a helluva long way if I get my way...

Hope you enjoyed. And please, all those that have alerted this story or added it to their favourites...review? It only takes a second. Pretty pretty pretty please?

**EDIT: **Just went through and changed a couple typos, and also enabled anon. reviews (thank you MayaMay!). Sorry...next chapter next week, hopefully. Those of you who're reading Tension, that'll be done in a couple of days. And now I'm going shopping.


	3. Nothing Comes As Easy As You

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. If it was, Gaara would have an addiction to Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream and would never have broken all those bones in Lee's body. Okies?

 

* * *

Hear Me Out

_'It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.' - Oscar Wilde_

* * *

The world had descended into grey-scale. When the skies opened, Minneapolis became muted colours, black umbrellas and soggy newspapers. Raindrops ran down the window, and reminded Sasuke of when he and Sakura would talk at 2am on rainy mornings/nights, about things that had seemed profound when they were younger.

" _Perfection's an unrealistic ideal. But I still want it. Does that make me stupid? Foolish?_" _His soft timbre, disembodied, leant a weight to his words that was heavy in the late night atmosphere. Sakura paused as she watched the bubbles rise in her fish tank, her breath caught._

_" ...Makes you just like everyone else, I suppose._"

He knew now he hadn't known when he had it so good. Sasuke bent his head and watched the way the bright lighting bounced off of the natural highlights in his hair. His father would usually cut the conversations short with a muffled expletive, coming in late from work (or whatever excuse he gave that time) and telling him to get off the phone from his girlfriend.

The restaurant smelled of disinfectant and pancake batter. There was a soft murmur of chatter, the quiet _clink _of cutlery and china.  He cut a pentagon in his blueberry pancakes, looked around the IHOP. The overhead lighting made the tiled floors shine obscenely. A server caught his eye, smiled. Her blonde hair curled every which way and her uniform matched the seating. Sasuke wondered if they'd just used the excess upholstery. Sasuke leant back in his chair. He heard the door open, heard the sudden rush of sound, of rain and wind as real life tried to intrude on the artificial surroundings.

'_ Work it, make it, do it, make us better, faster, harder, stronger!'_

Sasuke smirked. He wondered how many teenagers would make that their mantra, how many would take the words to heart. Music meant so much more to so many teenagers. They took it with them everywhere, an IV drip of recycled words and catchy harmonies, piped into their brains through the headphones of little gadgets. And they made it all real for them, searched in the lyrics for something applicable, something meaningful, and held the words close to their hearts. The same old repeated words. Unoriginal and recycled. _Foolish. _He wondered if they'd realised that yet.

A discordant sound hung in the air for a second, and Sasuke's eyes followed the sound. A booth held a bundle of punks, mohicans proudly displayed, tattoos and piercings showing the world just how unique they really were. A guitar had a chair all to itself. Sasuke smiled, rememberings of friends' garages, warm concrete and sun-stained guitars rushing in a flood back to him. His soft smile turned into a frown. Nostalgia wouldn't help him, nostalgia wouldn't – What was the blond idiot doing here?

Confusion flickered through his mind like static on a phone line, leaving thoughts interrupted and unfinished. Judging by the look on the blond's face, he was feeling the same. So why was the cop heading towards him as if he was the only thing he could see? Sasuke frowned, turned out the window and brought his black coffee near to his mouth. He ignored the sound of wet clothes on dry fabric, ignored the warm chatter when Naruto ordered from the server.

Naruto looked over at the brunet, folded his hands in his lap and then pulled the iPod headphones out. He looked around the IHOP. The place was garish in its obvious appeal to highschoolers. A glint of light off metal caught his eye, and he followed the source. He studied one of the punks in surprise. The guy was pierced everywhere Naruto could see.

" Must be bad when he goes to the airport." Naruto said, out of the blue.

Sasuke connected the dots in his mind, smirked. " Yeah, the metal detector must be hell on him." He wondered why he was breaking his silence. He went back to staring out the window focussed on the sign on the opposite street, and read it over and over. His hearing was over-sensitised by the sudden change in his nightly routine though, and he could pick up the sound of Naruto breathing, could see his chest rising out of the corner of his eyes and the way the bright lighting made his blonde hair seem like a halo. He swivelled a cool gaze to the blond, let it lay there a moment.

" What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice too much like his father's. He removed his gaze from the blond's face, took a drink from his cup.

" You looked lonely." Naruto answered simply. The clatter as a plate touched down on the counter distracted him from the disbelieving brow raised in his direction, and the curled server smiled at Naruto. Sasuke placed his cup on the saucer, his hands already missing the warmth. He watched in amusement as Naruto attempted to fend off the blonde's affections, the server eventually leaving her post, a sigh leaving the man's body.

" Got yourself an admirer there." Sasuke remarked. A dark look was thrown his way and he caught it with a chuckle. Sasuke watched as Naruto cut into his own pancakes.

" Haven't you got someone waiting for you at home?" Naruto asked casually. There was a long moment of silence, and Naruto wished he hadn't asked. The sound of rustling fabric suddenly erupted from Sasuke's corner, and he watched as a carton of cigarettes was placed on the desk. A cigarette was tapped out, and then tapped on the table. Sasuke frowned suddenly. Naruto figured he had only just remembered smoking was banned.

He shifted in his chair and the movement caused his knee to knock into Sasuke's. The heat seared Sasuke. Naruto muttered 'sorry', his eyes downcast, as he removed his leg, making Sasuke feel less than whole when it was removed.

" Something like that." The cigarette resumed its tapping on the table. One of the punks looked over, and Sasuke wondered if Naruto's eyes would look like that if he kissed him.

" 'Something like that'? What the hell does that mean?" Naruto asked scornfully around a mouthful of food. Sasuke grimaced, pondered on whether or not he should answer. It would do him no good to answer really; there was nothing to gain. The rain drummed on the window next to his ear.

" I don't love her." He wondered why he'd said that, the words erupting from his mouth, blurted out like a dirty confession. Which, Sasuke supposed, it was.

" And? So what?" The blond looked unimpressed.

" It's important." His voice was smooth, and he placed the cigarette between his lips, unlit.

" Bullshit. Love's not important, it's about having someone to talk to, a warm body at night. You know? That's all that matters, really, having someone there, someone warm. Someone who'll keep it all at bay." The blond gestured with his knife, swallowed. " I mean, a guy like you? You're bound to have a girl waiting for you."

Sasuke watched as something tugged at the corner of his lips. Naruto placed the knife and fork on his plate, looked at the mutilated mess of Sasuke's. He looked up, and Sasuke's eyes held his for a long moment.

" Why a girl?" He asked, something dark in his voice that sent shivers up Naruto's spine. His brain skid to a halt, did a desperate scrabble backwards. He shrugged. Sasuke snorted softly, rolled his tongue around the tip of the cigarette and making it soggy. He looked out the window again. The only sound on the table was Naruto as he finished his pancakes. The punks walked past their table and left, leaving behind a smell of damp wood and something coppery. Sasuke watched their departure. The blonde server came again, took their plates away but didn't try to start a conversation this time. Naruto watched his companion.

" You've got work tomorrow." Naruto said softly, watching the way the rain painted reflected tracks on the brunet's profile.

Dark eyes turned towards him, seemingly startled. " Oh. Right. Yeah." Naruto noted that he seemed distracted.

 " You going to stay here all night?" Naruto asked, his voice breaking the uncomfortable quiet that Naruto hadn't been aware of.

" Something like that." At Naruto's snort, he realised that he'd already used that to deflect a question. He was surprised when Naruto didn't pursue it. Quiet fell again, as warm as a blanket.

There was another rustle of fabric, and Sasuke wondered why the surroundings always seemed to make more sound than they did. He took another sip of his cooling coffee. There was a clatter as iPod headphones landed on the table, a shuffle as Naruto placed the 'phones in his ears. Tinny music erupted from them as Naruto relaxed in his seat and closed his eyes, and Sasuke found himself trying to identify the strains. He gave up after a while, picked up the iPod and flicked through the songs. Now Playing was Scared of Girls. Sasuke smirked, and went through the songs. He was so intent on the music, he didn't see the soft smile playing on Naruto's lips, or the tell-tale sliver of blue as the blond watched him from under eyelashes.

* * *

Sakura reached across the rumpled white sheets, felt something pull at her stomach. He was gone again, left her here with the cold bed and the clock ticking the seconds of her life away. Her long fingers ('_should have been a pianist, Sakura' he'd said with a smile_) splayed across where his chest had been, where only hours ago he'd laughed and smiled.

She shifted onto her side, the sheets loud in their complaints at her sudden movement. She clenched 'lids tight, ignored how the apartment felt empty, unlived in, unlov - _no_. She pulled the covers over her head, hummed a song and felt lonelier than before.

* * *

Knuckles cracked above his head as a yawn wracked Kiba's body. The sound joined the general cacophony of the squad room. Naruto had arrived at the station an hour early and had still been too late for Kiba. They'd spent the last two hours going over everything, reaping in information from everywhere and reading reports over and over again. Naruto slumped his head on the desk, rubbing at gritty eyes. Some sheets fluttered to the floor, but he couldn't care enough to pick them up.

" Right. Let's go over this one more time." Naruto lifted his head long enough to glare at his friend, then sighed, and leant back in his chair.

" Okay. Patrowski was a good man, loved by his neighbours, good business, with no enemies to speak of. He had no connections to any criminals and his life was pretty damn good. Three kids, cookie-cutter neighbourhood, friends with everyone, and his business was only small and practically run by him and his ever-handy Rolodex. Hell, he was practically in line for sainthood."

Kiba ruminated for a while. " Shot execution style, twice in the back of the head. In a warehouse, still have no idea why there of all places. Completely clean scene, apart from one hair we have nothing to compare to, and a card."

Naruto noisily expelled air through his teeth as Kiba spoke again. " Fucking useless. We're back at square one." Another pause. " Maybe it was a business associate. I bet if we went through that Rolodex - "

" Oh yeah, because everyone keeps their murderer's name in their Rolodex. What do you expect? To find someone's name under 'm' for murderer?" Kiba threw an angry look at Naruto and there was silence once again. Someone shouted across the other side of the room, and the secretary who handled all the phone calls to the squad room drifted past, yelling straight back.

" What about the calling card?" Kiba caught the secent of something flowery and feminine and thanked God for women.

" What about it?" Naruto asked, twiddling a red pen between his fingers. It leaked on his thumb, and he cursed as it dyed his ridges red.

" Well, is it real?" Kiba watched in amusement as Naruto sucked on his thumb. Naruto stopped suddenly.

" Don't know. Don't think we had it checked." There was a quick pause and then words hurried out of Naruto's mouth. " If the card is real then that could mean that either Akatsuki just got sloppy, or our perp's in contact with the gang." Naruto was picking up the phone already, twisting black cord around his red digit.

" I'm pretty sure it's not Akatsuki. It's not like them at all. As soon as you know what to look for, there are tons of inconsistencies. Too many." Kiba rolled back on his chair, the picture of laidback, but Naruto could tell the by the tense set of his shoulders he was just as excited as he was. " Call your Uchiha and ask him, would you?"

" Yeah, sure. Go get that Rolodex." At Kiba's questioning look, he said defensively, " You never know."

Kiba snorted, grabbed his sport jacket from the chair and headed towards the stairs. He looked back suddenly and said, " 'Perp'? Have you been watching Cagney and Lacey again?" There was a note of friendly amusement.

" Just can't get enough of them." The blond grinned in response, flipped the brunet off, and spoke into the receiver. " Hello? Hey, Kakashi..."

* * *

_' I am what you never want to say but I've never had a doubt'_

The steam from his coffee rose in pirouettes, performed a translucent version of Swan Lake in mid-air before the tendrils disappeared. Sasuke was writing up his exact procedure and findings concerning the chewing gum DNA yesterday. Kakashi had walked in earlier, taken one look at Sasuke's shattered state and returned later with two cups of coffee. Sasuke had already finished the first one, and when he lifted his hands, he could see the pen shaking slightly from the trembling in his fingers. He sighed, rubbed his temples and reached for the coffee just as Kakashi walked in yet again.

" Call for you, Sasuke. In my office." Sasuke peeled off the plastic gloves he always wore, and grabbed some lotion on his way out. He nodded thanks at the grey-haired CSI.

His footsteps echoed in the hallway, and his appearance in the halls garnered some looks from his colleagues. The anthropologist waved and smiled warmly at him, and he did his best to smile back. He reached the wooden door of Kakashi's office, one of the only wooden things in this modern building, and hurriedly picked up the phone. It lay amidst various pieces of paper, a picture of a blond-haired man and an orange book.

" Sasuke Uchiha." Luckily his voice wasn't as shaky as hands. He made a mental note to eat something soon.

" Hey, Sasuke, it's Naruto." Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, and opened the lotion bottle. " Did you ever analyse the calling card?"

Sasuke shook a liberal amount of the moisturiser into his hands and started working it into his skin. " No. Why? Do you want me to?" The lotion was scented, something coppery, and he was reminded of the punks. He wondered if they had a gig tonight.

" Yeah, please. And compare it to the other Akatsuki calling cards." Sasuke paused.

" I'd need authorisation from one of the task members to do that." He answered evenly, capping the lotion bottle carefully. A Japanese scroll behind Kakashi's desk preached to him about family and glory.

" You have it." The certainty in Naruto's voice made Sasuke pause for a second time.

He drew in his breath before asking. " Are you a mem-" His question was cut short, by Naruto asking to have the results as quickly as possible. Sasuke stared at the phone for a moment or two.

" Okay." He put the phone down, headed back to his lab and peeled more gloves on. He snapped the latex against the skin of his wrist, opened the evidence box for the Patrowski case, and started work. He wouldn't think about the implications, wouldn't wonder about Naruto. The science was in front of him, and the science was so much simpler.

_'Time won't heal this damage anymore.'_

* * *

It was late by the time the phone rang on Naruto's desk, and it was Kiba who answered it, his mouth half full of his wife's homemade lasagne. " Det'ctive In'zuka."

There was a pause on the line, and then a smooth cool voice that made Kiba unconsciously straighten his back said, " Is Naruto not there?"

Kiba swallowed his mouthful, and feeling a little put out, answered defensively, " He's in the john. Who is it? I'm his partner."

" Sasuke Uchiha. It's about the card. It's authentic. I'll bring the test results tomorrow for you to examine and include in the paperwork." The voice had a note that sounded as though its owner was about to put the phone down. Words rushed from Kiba's mouth.

" Authentic? Real? Definitely? We are talking about the Akatsuki card here, right?" Kiba spotted Naruto's blond head weaving through the mess of tables and motioned him over with wild hand movements that even Naruto had trouble following.

There was a note of impatience in the voice now, but Kiba couldn't care. " Yeah. Definitely. Bye." There was a click and dial tone, and then Kiba was staring at Naruto.

" The calling card's real." He said to his partner. Said partner's brow furrows and he stared at his desk, as though looking at Kiba's face would make it difficult to think.

" Real? But then that means...What the hell _does _that mean?"

* * *

**A/N: **I'm severely unhappy with this chapter. Severely. I had this written out, perfectly, on Thursday. Seriously, the IHOP scene? One of the best I've ever written. And it was more than this, and I like it much better, but right now I'm not in the author-y mood or particularly fond of this 'site. FF lost the whole chapter. The whole thing.

And the html is fucked. Why are 'sites constantly changing everything?

So this whole thing might seem a bit choppy (in the unintentional way) because it's basically me meshing my rather dubious memories of what I'd written into it.

So, yeah. Sorry. Again.


	4. I'm Sleeping My Way Out Of This One

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto, there would be a helluva lot more information on the orphan system in Konoha...

Now, if you have someone to thank for this chapter, please thank Rasangen22. A song she recommended pretty much kept the fire lit for this one.

* * *

Hear Me Out

_'No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We must walk this path ourselves' - Buddha_

* * *

There was something about a car crash that drew the eye and made gawkers out of respectable businessmen and mothers' of two point five children. The way the metal twisted over, in and out, the way you could see that little bit of - was that blood? - on the windscreen. The way the glass shattered, spiralled, fractured in such a pretty way. It was gruesome, horrific and eye-catching.

It wasn't the only kind of crash, either. When someone started crashing in the ER, people stopped, and stared. Sutures, stitches, injections...It didn't matter what was happening to them, they just couldn't draw their eyes away from the convulsive body movements of someone battling for air and struggling, fighting, to live. There was something about arguing with your body that made people gawk, something about demanding another few minutes, oh god, a few _seconds_ that held people's attention.

There was nothing really that a nurse could do. She could charge up the pedals, watch as the body bounced up and then back down again with a sickening thud. She could wipe the blood from their mouths where they bit down during convulsions, perhaps even hold their hands and whisper a prayer. But truly, there was nothing more a nurse could do when someone had that final battle with Death. And while Sakura might joke that all the work was done by nurses in the hospital, she knew. And it made her knuckles turn white, made her jaw clench so hard that it hurt for the rest of the day and caused tiny black dots to dance in front of her vision when she managed to break away.

Because she'd do anything to help them. But half the time, even the doctors couldn't do that. And with every flat line, with every never-ending beep that echoed in the suddenly silent corridor, a tiny piece of her died, and a larger part beat herself up for not being able to even help. Not how she wanted. Not how she needed.

* * *

The car ride was tense. Confusion flickered between them, making the muscles of Naruto's jaw bunch up, and Kiba to munch on a bag of mint humbugs. The constant crunching got on Naruto's nerves every time, because Kiba couldn't suck, he had to bite down, as though every sugary confection was just another damn hole in the case and he was exacting his own personal revenge. The radio had long been turned off, and neither had made any moves to put a CD in. They had different tastes anyway, and would usually bicker over who was better, Kurt Cobain or Bruce Springsten. It didn't really seem like the atmosphere was ready for that.

The crunching stopped, and Naruto chanced a glance at his partner, who was looking pensive. Naruto quickly averted his eyes back to the road. The rain pounded against the windscreen and the wipers were working double-time to keep it off. It was hard enough to drive without a Kiba distraction.

His partner spoke anyway. " So, I heard this joke." Humour was Kiba's way of dealing with stress. He'd use sarcasm, wit and just long jokes until he'd smiled enough to calm down and think properly. " A paediatrician, a lawyer and a priest are on the Titanic as it's sinkin'. The paediatrician goes, 'we must save the kids!'. The lawyer says, 'fuck the kids!'. And the priest answers, 'have we got time?'."

Naruto cracked a smile. They rode in an almost silence, until Naruto stopped at a crossing and waved an old lady across.

" What the hell is she doing out in this weather?" Kiba shook his head, and Naruto had to agree. It was raining cats and dogs outside. " Hope it's not like this for the funeral." Naruto winced, turned to look at his friend.

" When is that, anyway?" It was a lie, whoever had said that to be a homicide cop you had to detach yourself. Sometimes the only motivation a cop could get to go out there and scrounge up another clue was the thought of the murdered victim, being washed of blood and dignity down at the morgue. Naruto just hadn't had time to check the date of the funeral, and besides, the family might not even want him there. With no progress made on the case and almost two days wasted, Naruto was beginning to lose hope. Which was why they were heading for the County Crime Lab.

" Tomorrow." Naruto swore. " Yeah. She just wanted to get it over and done with. He's being cremated. Said he used to hate the thought of being buried, all those worms and maggots and roots."

" Roots?" The incongruity caught his attention.

" Yeah. The bloke apparently had this big phobia of them. Which caused a couple laughs for the kids when they ever went out to the woods for a walk or whatever." Kiba grinned. " So, where we going after we stop at this science place?"

Naruto turned the wheel, felt that familiar power rush through him at thought of the car underneath and how much damage he could do. " Going to Shika's." At Kiba's sigh and roll of the eyes, Naruto grinned. " I know you have a man crush on him really."

" Yeah. With that sense of hygiene, who wouldn't?" Kiba snorted.

* * *

" Is that the same shirt you wore yesterday?"

Shikamaru pulled at the armpits of his grey T-shirt, sniffed and then shrugged languidly. " 's still good." Temari looked at him with pure disgust, and inched her chair a little away from his. He rolled his eyes and leant his head down so it was level with the desktop.

* * *

Hennepin County Medical Center was a large structure of glass, white stone and modern architecture. It was also Sakura's second home. Most people, she knew, disliked the smell of disinfectant that never quite managed to hide the scent of sickness, and the sound of monitors beating, keeping track of who was alive and who really, irrevocably, wasn't. But to her, the sounds and smell meant that they were doing something, that she was doing something to fight against everything wrong. And she needed the reminder, because every now and again, the sounds and smell would slip over her like a thick blanket, and drown her and swallow her whole and it was all she could do to forget that just above her a baby no more than three days old was infested with wires and that to the right of her a teenager who'd slit their wrists was battling for her life.

Sasuke called the building the Paradox. From the outside it was so coldly stylish that it was almost impossible to remember how life was epitomised inside.

Sakura wrapped her fingers around the mug of coffee, watched in a kind of dazed way as the steam rose from the surface. She was reminded of this morning, where she had stumbled into the kitchen to find Sasuke standing at the counter, a cup of something warm-but-now-cold sitting on the surface. He'd smiled at her, kissed her cheek, and then stumbled into the bathroom. She'd bit her cheek and tried not to cry.

Sarah flicked her on the nose and smiled when Sakura's eyes focussed on her. The redhead had been trying to get her friend's attention for ages. " Hey there, sweetie. You doing alright?" Her voice was all streets-of-New-York, the nasal twist giving her a hard edge that Sakura knew she didn't really feel.

She smiled, a light blush at being caught slacking on the job tinting her cheeks. " Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for covering my shift last night." She placed the cup of coffee on the counter of the nurse's station, closed the file she'd been pretending to look at. The newspaper tried to catch her eye, a headline with a clever alliteration practically screaming 'read me'. She ignored it. She knew it all anyway, and the way the 'papers had reported it made her feel ill.

" No problems. How did your date go, anyway?" Sarah was shrugging into her coat, her red hair clashing horribly with the orange detail.

A male nurse walked by, caught Sakura's eye and smiled. " Was good, yeah. We went to that new restaurant, you know, down -"

" The one that opened this week?" When Sakura nodded, Sarah whistled lowly. " Well, hell, that's practically a proposal! How are you two doing, anyway? Been near three years, hasn't it?" Her wedding ring caught the too-bright light, glinted mockingly at the pink-haired nurse. She'd often wondered if this bright lighting was meant to encourage patients to stay away from the light at the end of the tunnel, as though it was saying 'you think _that's _bright? Take a look at _this_.'

" Yeah, four in three months. And no, no proposal yet. Both got things on our minds, at the moment." She bit her lip, looked down at the closed report as remorse burned the back of her eyelids like acid. She needed to sleep, she knew, needed to stop chasing thoughts around her head like this. She rubbed at her forehead, smiled wearily at her friend. " Feeling a little bit under the weather, truth be told." Sarah gave her a measuring look, and then seemed to reach a decision.

" Speaking of the weather, have you seen this lately? My granddad says it hasn't rained this much here since 1943." Sarah remarked, falling into the Minnesotan habit of talking about the weather whenever she could.

" Your granddad wasn't even here in 1943." Sakura grinned. The normalcy helped to shrug off the depression. The rain wasn't helping.

* * *

The hum of machines, the blinking of LEDs and the faint _taptap _as someone typed their report on their data set a therapeutic atmosphere. When Sasuke entered the lab, the tightness around his eyes evaporated and his shoulders slumped a little, relaxing from their tense state. It wasn't that he found people difficult to deal with, he just found machines easier. He shrugged his white coat on, pushed some goggles into the pocket already lined with pens, and headed towards the CD player. He flicked through discs, smiled politely at another techy, and swivelled the chosen CD on his index finger.

__

'The situations are irrelevant now. She loves the way that I tease, I love the way that she breathes.'

He could let other lives, other words that weren't his thoughts, block out the emotions and focus on the ordered and the logical world of his science.

At least, he could for the little time that he was allowed privacy. The swish of coats and cheap suit fabric subtly weaved itself into the music, making his ears itch with the unwelcome subtle presence. He turned to look at the door, a scowl on his face. Detective Uzumaki stood there, with a slightly paunchy older guy whose hair was badly in need of a cut. He angled his body towards them, disdain filtering itself through his pretty features.

_'I touched her -ooh, She touched my -aah. It was the craziest thing.'_

" Problem, detectives?" He asked, in a slow drawl that couldn't have said 'contempt' better. The older guy frowned, and worked at something in his jaw. When he spoke, Sasuke got a whiff of peppermints and he recognised the voice from the phone.

_'I love the girls who love to hate because they're just like me. A certain girl, she took my hand and ran it up her thigh.'_

" Came to get the information on the cards." He sounded jovial, almost friendly. Sasuke might have believed him if it wasn't for the look in his eyes. He tried not to roll his eyes or turn towards Naruto. He shouldn't have let Naruto sit with him last night. It was stupid, stupid, _stupid_. Cops were all the same, thick as two bricks and about as useful. He quelled the safe hatred rising up in his throat, and sighed.

_'She licked her lips and pulled my hair. I fell in love for a night. She can't behave and I'm just a slave, don't worry I'll be gone when the morning comes.'_

He could feel Naruto's eyes burning into his back as he walked to a draw in one of the side counters. He pulled out a wad of papers an inch thick, held it out to them and smirked. " Bedtime reading, perhaps?" Kiba took it with a growl. Naruto was frowning at him. He turned quickly, caught the blue eyes in a hot moment that made his insides melt like a marshmallow on a stick over a campfire. He drew his eyes away, tortured himself with the thoughts of what could never be, and then stared at Kiba's left ear with a cool indifference.

" Anything else?"

_'Darling, what's going on?'_

Naruto spoke, and the sound shocked Sasuke. " Yeah. Tell me about your brother."

_'Honestly that never happened - lying is your favourite passion.'_

* * *

Martin Freeman panted, a gleeful little grin on his face. His tongue darted out every now and again to taste the sweat. _This_, thought Freeman, _is who I really am. Who I've always been. A wild man. A risk taker. A sexual adventurer, if only someone would ask._ The hand drifted closer to his groin and he muffled a groan even as his pelvis thrusted towards the lingering warmth. Leather, harder and colder than he'd thought when he'd first seen it, restricted his arms and legs, held him captive to the porcelain throne. A hand gripped his hair, pulled his face upwards as long nails raked his scalp. A dark, throaty chuckle reverberated through Freeman's body, sending ripples through deep pools of desire gathering at the bottom of his spine and in his stomach and - he groaned again - everywhere.

" _Like that? Good boy. Let's see how you like this." _The voice was like heaven, silky and soft. It caressed his feverish body like cold metal chains and the lips, soft and rough at the same time, only added to the ecstasy.

And when he felt the gun on his temple, he groaned louder, as though it was just another part of the game, felt white-hot pleasure-pain ricochet through his body. He never even felt the bullet enter his brain.

* * *

" Oh, Sarah?" Sakura turned jade eyes on her friend, filled them with a plea. Her friend sighed good-naturedly, and stopped buttoning up the coat.

" Yeah?" Sakura smiled warmly.

" Do you mind covering for me tomorrow as well? Only, I've got a funeral to go to and I can't really miss it. He was a really good friend." Sarah's face was instantly sympathetic.

" Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. Anyone I knew?" The scarf was knotted around her neck, and Sakura focussed on it in order to keep the bile down. She tossed her the newspaper.

Her voice was as thick as the scarf she was staring at. " Yeah. Whole of Minneapolis knows Henry Patrowski's name now."

* * *

Sarah Bonar was pulling woolly gloves that matched her scarf down knobbly fingers as she stepped out of the elevator. Her shoes clacked against the floor of the hospital. She'd always liked the sound, found it made her feel authoritative and powerful, and she needed that after comforting a friend about death, which was really something she was no authority on or had any power over. She took a deep breath, smiled at the lemon scented bleach the cleaners used, and knocked on Dr. Freeman's door. There was no reply. She frowned. Looking around, she saw the corridor was empty up here, apart from one person with long hair and a slender back. She turned her attention back to the door. She knew he was there, he'd come on shift an hour ago. And he had her umbrella, which she needed now, with the way it was raining. She knocked again, then opened the door. He wasn't in his office, but the door to the little ensuite was open. She smiled, figuring he was checking out his reflection again. She moved into the office, called out his name and tapped the door open further.

It didn't creak. She thought, looking back, that it should have. She really thought, with hindsight, that she deserved some kind of warning for the sight of Marty Freeman, covered in blood, naked but for the leather wraps on his wrists and ankles.

* * *

**A/N: **Short one today, mm? So yeah, if any of you have been skipping the Sakura bits...well...now's a good time to stop. Otherwise the plot will go completely over your head. And the boy on boy action won't be happening for a while yet...Sorry about that, all those who're reading it just for that. And when it does, it'll probably be violent, angst and dark. If you're hoping for the sweet, fluffy stuff...maybe in the sequel. Which I already know the plot of.

And yes, that does mean there will be unanswered questions in this.

Sorry this is so short, I've been having a busy week and too much stuff...but I have a two week holiday soon, and 'm hoping to start doing longer chapters for you, and more regularly.

The Rasengan22 song is _Sleep, Everyone _by Powerspace.

The song mentioned in this repeatedly (hope that didn't annoy anyone or smack too much of a songfic) is _Situations _by Escape the Fate.


	5. I'm Not The Only One Lying

**Disclaimer: **Yeah. If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would never have run away. But then, there wouldn't be much of a plot, would there...

**Dedication: **To **_MayaMay_**, for all those delightfully awesome spoilers of Naruto. Quite frankly, my dear, they made my day. You know, it's amazing just how many canon stories I know would be screwed over by the new developments. AUs FTW!

* * *

Hear Me Out

_'Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for' - Epicurus_

* * *

Sasuke looked at the countertop. It was white with miniscule blue and grey dots that seemed to have no pattern. He'd spent hours staring at them before, when waiting for DNA to process, when collecting his thoughts. He opened his mouth and was about to speak, when the detectives' pagers went off together. The beep was different from the comforting ones of the lab, but nevertheless helped to relax his suddenly tense muscles. He smirked.

"Guess it'll have to wait."

He knew what the sound meant. Another day, another murder. It didn't matter to Sasuke, not anymore. He turned away, and didn't listen as the detectives left the lab.

* * *

The elevator pinged. Naruto and Kiba stepped out into a throng of people, most of who shouldn't have been there. The noise was a muted hum of sobbing, soft words and footsteps, and for Naruto it was a welcome reprieve from Musak's version of some classical song he didn't know. He blinked, and tried to orient himself by noticing singular details then building them up into a larger picture. An officer was kindly guiding a lady in a hospital nighty into the elevator, and nodded once at Naruto. The blond detective recognised him as the fresh-faced officer who'd been on guard at the scene of Patrowski's death. There were men in white coats and smart suits, women in pink nurse's outfits, and if that wasn't sexist, Naruto didn't know what was. A woman with red hair and orange detail on her coat was sobbing hysterically into a pink-haired girl's shoulder. Naruto mentally questioned her choice of hair colour when she knew she'd have to wear pink at work, and then figured she'd just taken colour coordination to a new extreme.

His friend was muttering obscenities under his breath and didn't stop when one of the officers stopped in front of them. "Detectives Uzumaki, Inuzuka." Naruto was impressed - the guy had even got the pronunciations right. Naruto squinted more closely at the face, and recognised him as someone who they'd seen a few times before. A wash of guilt for not remembering started in his stomach and didn't make it to his face. The officer quickly filled them in on the details, and then answered a question Kiba asked. "The girl over there found the body. Sarah Bonar. She'd apparently come to say goodbye before she left and then found Dr Freeman on the floor. He..." The officer paused, showing his only hesitancy since he'd seen the two. "He doesn't look so good." _Ah. _Naruto checked him over and saw his hands trembling a little bit.

Naruto turned to Kiba. His friend was tugging nervously at the sleeves of his sport jacket. "I'm going to go talk to Sarah, okay? You can go ahead and talk to Sarutobi, I'll see you in a bit." He made his way to the sobbing woman, something rolling in his stomach. The flip and squeak of his rubber-soled shoes on the floor made them both look up, and then the pink haired one was talking.

"Can't you leave it until later, Detective? My friend's really upset and she's already talked to one of the officers." It was cool, calm and authoritative. Naruto had no doubt that under certain circumstances the voice would be smooth and warm, like hot cocoa on a winter's night. Her hands were on her friend's shoulder, and Naruto noticed how long and slender they were, a thought so out of place, that he blinked twice before replying.

"I'm afraid not. I am really sorry to do this, uhm...?" Naruto left the sentence hanging.

"Sakura. Sakura Haruno. I...I work here. And I knew Dr. Freeman. He was always...always..." She bit her lip and turned away. Naruto made a few notes in his notepad, and nodded.

"Thank you, Miss Haruno. Mrs Bonar, can I ask you some questions, please?" The woman raised her head, and red swollen features stared back at Naruto. She nodded. " Thank you. At what time did you find Dr. Freeman, ma'am?"

* * *

Sasuke hadn't moved since the detectives had gone. _Tell me about your brother. _It ran on repeat through his mind, and he wondered how much he was expected to tell. How much that he _could _tell. He reached up to run a hand through his hair, dropped it quickly when he realised it was shaking. His brother. His _fucking _brother.

The CD had gone silent when Kakashi poked his head around the corner of the door. "Sasuke." His voice was firm, and Sasuke turned automatically to something so solid when his thoughts were like vapour. "There's been a murder at Hennepin. Dr. Freeman." Sasuke nodded, and then it processed in his mind. Something flashed, in bright neon lights that made him narrow his eyes to try to focus. They widened suddenly. _Sakura's on shift._

His lab coat bounced against his ankles as he ran down the corridor.

* * *

Naruto nodded and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. " Thank you for your help, ma'am. If you think of anything else, anything at all, please call." He handed her card from the back of his notepad, and then smiled at Sakura. She managed a watery imitation back, and then he manoeuvred around the people and made it to the doorway of the room. The yellow tape lie next to the doorframe, probably waiting until later to be wound around the door. At the moment, there was too much traffic, and the body had to come out yet. Naruto chanced a look back at Sarah and Sakura, and wondered how they'd deal with the sight of the black bag. Personally, he'd always hated it. It reminded him of bin liners and putting the trash out, and that thought seemed horrible and disrespectful.

Sarutobi smiled when he saw Naruto, and for a moment Naruto thought that was disrespectful too, before he wondered what the hell was happening to his thoughts. He smiled back, and walked over to the old man. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sarutobi got there first. "When was the last time you went to Mass, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked, once, twice and then managed a "What the hell?" He winced straight afterwards and apologised for his language. "Not for years, old man. You know that. Let's not go there again." He cleared his throat. "Anything I should know?"

The old man sighed, and there were so many different emotions encompassed that Naruto thought he might sneeze. "Another 2 millimetre, by the looks of things. And... A calling card. Of the Akatsuki. Do you mind explaining that, young man?" Naruto cursed mentally in his head and connected the dots.

"I'm not in any trouble. I'm fine." He turned his head so that his eyes would hold his father figure's for the sentence. "I'm not going to break." One of the boys photographing Dr Freeman's body looked up at that, but quickly looked away again at Kiba's shout. Sarutobi made a noncommittal sound and then shifted.

"I won't be able to tell you anything more until I get him on the slab and send various things to the crime lab. But most of the evidence has been cleaned away. Smell that? Lemon scented bleach. The killer used it to wipe away any trace of him that he left behind." Naruto frowned, and moved forward to take a look at Freeman. And then wished he hadn't.

The hole was neat, something dark and black at the temple of his skull. But his body was the complete opposite; white, flabby and loose skin that seemed whiter than the tiles surrounding it. And the pallid tone wasn't helped by the black leather wound around his wrists, binding them to the pipe at the back of the toilet, or their counterparts on the ankles, tying Freeman to the porcelain base.

Kiba shuffled closer to his partner. He motioned towards the groin area. "Now that's how I want to go."

* * *

Sasuke tapped his foot waiting for the elevator and barely even noticed when a cop stepped out of the small cell with a frail-looking woman clasping his hand. He just stalked into the elevator and pressed the button for Freeman's office. He knew it well - it was on the same floor as Dr. Jung's. He snorted his irritation and intentionally pressed a nail into his thumb so that the pain could distract him.

He wasn't in love with Sakura. He knew that, and he had a sinking feeling that she knew it as well. But he did love her. They had a multitude of memories behind them and he knew almost everything about her, including her weaknesses. Death was one of them. Sakura needed to be in control and when things happened that she couldn't control, she hated it and would blame herself unequivocally. In other ways she was the strongest person that Sasuke knew and she made him feel something approaching alive when he was with her - her vitality was catching. Since her childhood, and that...instance, she'd grasped life so hard and so desperately that for Sasuke, she represented life. Her eyes flashed with something that he could only ever dream of possessing and when her hand held his, he felt like she could take him anywhere and he'd enjoy it.

But she hated death. He'd told her that working in a hospital was a stupid decision then, but she'd said that it was just something she had to overcome. Just like everything else. And he thought that maybe that was why he loved her - because she was a survivor, and he, in so many ways, was not. She was damaged but she still _lived_.

The elevator pinged and someone got on. Grey hair tied in a ponytail reminded Sasuke of those old bikers that used to ride down to the beach in the summer and set up camp. He and Sakura and their families had holidayed once to England, and had been shocked by the amount of middle-aged men wandering around with their beer bellies hanging over the top of leather trousers. The ping of the elevator seemed to chock the other passenger. He got off at the next stop, and Sasuke remained alone in the elevator. When it finally opened at his floor, he hurried out and immediately spotted Sakura comforting Sarah. He relaxed a tiny bit. She hadn't broken, she was okay. She had someone to fix. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and walked over.

"Sakura?" Her head pinged up and she shot one of the gentlest smiles he'd ever seen in his direction. "Sarah." The mutual friend sobbed in response. He looked around and saw that no one was really paying the two women any attention. He turned back to them and offered some compassion in his eyes. "How about we take you home, huh? Will's probably sick with worry." The orange-haired woman sniffed and stood up a little shakily, wobbling on her feet. Sakura was there to catch her and steer her.

"One moment, Sasuke. I'll just go tell the detective that we're leaving." Sasuke took up her position at Sarah's side as the pink-haired girl hurried to the entrance of a door and motioned a detective forward. Sasuke saw a flash of blue, a streak of blond and hurriedly turned his head. The floor here was made of some shiny material made to look like marble. Sarah's warmth was welcome on his right and he realised he was still in his lab coat. A sort-of familiar voice rumbled to his left and he tightened his grip on Sarah. She seemed to appreciate it.

When Sakura returned, they left hurriedly, and Sasuke didn't look back.

* * *

Shikamaru stretched his arms above his head, and tried not to smirk when Temari grimaced as his bones clicked back into position. It was fun working with someone who was snarky as all hell, raw in her ferocity and yet contrastingly calm when talking about strategy and work. He didn't think he'd had this much fun since Ino had dragged him away from the computer lab in university, and took him to a stripper club in order to prove he was human and not a robot to her friends. He'd been quite upset - he'd made that rumour up himself, and was proud of the elaborations people had taken time to add on.

Suddenly a red light started flashing in the corner of his room and there were several quick-fire explosions that Shikamaru knew as well as the sound of Ino's voice. He jumped up from his chair and grabbed a gun from under the desk, keeping it low and close to his side, his finger nowhere near the trigger because that would be dumb - one loud noise and he was liable to jump, twitch, and blow his own foot off.

Temari was already standing by the door, gun drawn and eyes skittering around the sunny apartment. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and strolled into the living room, using the carefully placed mirrors in the corner of the room and on large walls, to see that no one was there. A painting was drying on an easel, bright splashes of colour and intriguing subtle shades of beige that caught his eye. He stared for a moment before he clicked that Ino wasn't in front of the painting, in fact, wasn't even in the apartment. He ran towards the door, but Temari was already there, yanking it from its frame and doing some crouch-glance pose induced by the adrenalin in her veins. Shikamaru ran out of the door, down the corridor, and vaulted over the railing of the stairs, landing on the ground floor so quickly one might have thought he'd practiced the move. He had. He hit an alarm on the wall and a piercing sound reverberated up the stairwell. He heard Temari give out a loud curse, but now he was slinking around corners, using shadows to his advantage and thinking himself invisible. A glint of light caught his eye, and he turned towards it quickly.

It glinted again, and he steadied his breath and blinked his eyes when he realised it was the lights blinking off of the metal surface of the buckle on Ino's shoe. He looked for her body. Her foot lay somewhere nearby, the pale skin almost shining against the dark grey of the concrete floor. He moved forward slowly, trying to breathe past the lump in the throat and the way all his muscles had tensed up when he saw Ino's prone limb, thoughts of what her body would look like dashing through his mind with all the details of a genius's imagination. He heard footsteps going in the opposite direction, ran out from his hiding place and fell down beside Ino's body. He didn't bother looking up to look for the attacker. He didn't care. Because Ino was lying on the floor, purplish marks around her neck, and _not breathing._

* * *

**A/N: **Wanna read my utterly lousy excuses as to why this is so unbelievably late? Well, okay. So I finished writing this a week ago, over the space of two weeks (yes yes, not a lot to show, but I was uber busy and completely unable to write) and was hoping to add a little, well, a lot more to this chapter. But I just read it through, and I can't remember where I was going with it (swear I'm going senile) and this seems as good a place as any to stop the chapter.

I'm hoping the next chapter comes more easily, because I've already had a bundle of visions/daydreams about where and how I want it to go. There will be a pivotal scene next chapter, with some SasuNaru. Yup. SASUNaru. Wait for the NaruSasu, mm'kay? It'll all sort itself out, honest. But at the moment, I should be memorising a german essay to repeat in my German oral in two days that I haven't revised one bloody bit for and I'm quaking in my little dolly shoes and hoping that a miracle arrives soon so that I can just forget all about German and never ever take it again.

If any of you are thinking of taking German -dramatic pause- DON'T. It's logical, it's fairly anglicised, and it's **as hard as hell.** Anyone wants to wish me luck, it'd be highly appreciated. Oh, also...Some of you, if looking for something that isn't your typical SasuNaru fan story, might want to check out Lost In Translation by Rasengan22. I know she's a bit bummed right now because she killed a lot of clichés in her story, and people weren't happy with that. To be frank, people who need clichés to soften the brutality of life need a good kick up the arse. And you lot all seem wonderfully realistic and know when something's pretty (I've raided some of your favourites, it's true) and _real _so yeah, ever want to make her smile, leave her a review showing that you looked deeper than the surface and that you understand what she's doing. If not, I think she might actually give up the fandom or something...

OH! Also (hell yeah, going for the Longest AN Ever Award) reviews! I love/adore/worship those reviews where they completely tear to pieces what I'm doing. These are the ones I'm looking for. Yes, ego stroking does tend to leave me on a giddy high all day, but so does watching a subbed DBSK interview (kyaaa! Jaejoong!). You've got to tear down a building before the foundations can be built upon, you know? So if you want to make me better, just go ahead and rip apart my writing. I'll love you forever if you do. (Though the ego-boosts are also greatly needed/wanted/loved/adored/a sure fire way to getting a dedication at some point)


	6. And Some Secrets Were Meant To Be Told

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. And I don't even remember what's going on with the anime at the moment, or the manga - are those spoilers still up to date, MayaMay?

* * *

Hear Me Out

_"I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right." - _Albert Einstein

* * *

Naruto had never liked the way funerals were conducted. When he went, he didn't want it to be a sobering affair like this one, with black coats and long pencil skirts, familiar faces obscured by veils and fat tears that smeared away makeup. He wanted bright colours, balloons and champagne, and not a suit jacket in sight. He'd always wondered why people thought this was a fitting way to mark someone's passing. For one, it was never unique to the person, it was always the same words, _ahes to ashes, dust to dust_. If there was any time in the person's life where their uniqueness and their quirks should be celebrated, it was now. Not by a uniform service, order and black against green, not by the same words that had been muttered for a millenia and more, not by out-dated traditons for a religion that most people didn't even believe in anymore. Or maybe that was just him.

He sighed, as he moved from his spot, winding in and out of unmoving mourners until his shoulder nudged Kiba's and they moved towards the car. Henry had been a well-loved and well-known man, and the swell of weeping people had taken him and the few men he'd been spared by surprise. But it didn't look like any of the mourners were secretly smiling or were insincere, and Naruto was content to leave the maudlin scene for the men in uniform. He dug his hands deep into his pockets and toyed with a sweet wrapper as he dragged his eyes up to meet his partner's.

"See anyone?" He asked, as his partner steadfastly refused to look his way. Kiba gave a nod in the direction of his stare, and Naruto followed it as his friend said, "Sakura Haruno." His gaze jerked back to Kiba's, and then quickly traced the direction of Kiba's eyes.

Pink hair was tied up in a fancy French knot, and Naruto was surprised by the sudden thought that he wouldn't mind that at his funeral, as it was bright and alive enough for him to like it. But then he disregarded the thought and tried to focus on why Sakura Haruno was at Henry Patrowski's funeral. He could tell by the movement of one delicate white wrist and the repetitive swipe of the handkerchief that she was grieving, but that only fueled his questions more, rather than abating them.

"What's she here for?" He murmured, as quiet as the unspoken rules of funerals dictate. His partner finally dragged his gaze away and scanned the thinning crowd.

Snorting, he reached into his pocket. "To pay her respects, dumbass?" His fingers resurfaced with his bounty, a mint humbug from the day previous. He set about unwrapping it as Naruto's breath was sharply drawn in, and the blond spoke.

"Yeah, but why's she here with the bastard forensic?" Kiba's head jerked up and he craned his neck trying to catch a sight of who Naruto could mean, before finding black eyes, black hair, creamy skin and an all-too-familiar cool personality.

"The Uchiha?" But his friend was already weaving once more among black coats and the soft sounds of mourning.

* * *

He murmured a quick apology as he jostled an elderly lady's elbow in his haste to get to the - couple? Accomplices? His mind was racing, playing dot-to-dot in dim light where half of the dots were obscured and hidden, but one thing shone true - Sakura Haruno had been at the scene of one copycat Akatsuki murder, and knew the victim of another. Surely this was too much of a coincidence?

A rattle of dirt on the top of the coffin startled him and he paused, before resuming his pace more sedately. More people were throwing dirt and flowers onto Patrowski's coffin now, and the people on the fringes of the crowd were already leaving for cars that would lead them to Mrs. Patrowski's house and the buffet that waited there. He reached Sakura's side just as they began moving down the slight slope to the street. She glanced to the side and faltered in her step as she remembered him.

"Detective." Naruto caught a flash of black and ivory as sharp eyes swivelled to see who Sakura addressed, and then replied.

"Ms. Haruno. Didn't expect to see you here, truth be told. You knew Mr. Patrowski?" His voice was casual and a faint smile played at his lips. He found people usually responded more favourably to the Kind Copper vibe he could exude.

She smiled, albeit with sorrow etched in thin lines on her face. "He was a family friend. I've known him for...well, forever, really." She gave a short little laugh, and sniffled. Her jade eyes darted up and caught his. "I'm beginning to think I'm bad luck - two people I'm close to have been murdered. I wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke," she motioned to the figure in black and white, "called off the engagement soon in order to save his neck."

Sasuke murmured something in the negative, but Naruto's metaphorical pencil was darting to another dot, even as his step faltered. The only link between the murders, knew both of the victims personally, engaged to an Uchiha. He wondered if she knew what danger she was in of being a suspect. By the glare Sasuke levelled at him, the other male knew, but Naruto couldn't help that.

"Ah, you know what they say, love conquers all. You and Sasuke are engaged?" Sakura smiled, though he noticed there was possibly more sorrow than before in her expression. _Ah._ There was a pause as Sakura nodded, and then Naruto said. "I'm sorry, Ms. Haruno. Do you mind if I take your details, please? There maybe be something I would like to ask you." Sakura faltered again, and Sasuke increased the intensity of his glare.

"You can get the details off of me later, detective. Right now, we're leaving." Naruto watched as Sasuke wrapped an arm around Sakura's slim waist after delivering the words, and guided the woman into a dark blue car. He rocked back on his heels, and acknowledged Kiba's arrival with a tilt of his head.

"Close to both victims, there for one of the murders, getting married to the younger Uchiha. Whad'ya reckon? Viable suspect?" There was a drawn-out sigh, and then Kiba was moving towards their own unmarked Sedan, Naruto following after him.

They got into the car, the metal box shaking slightly as they slammed the doors and got comfortable. "I don't know. It doesn't seem like the bastard is very familiar with his brother."

"Well, we all know Uchiha's can be bloody good actors." Kiba grunted, both of their minds flashing to the summer and the court trial where Itachi Uchiha had bedazzled the public and the jury. "And, it just seems like too large a coincidence."

Kiba sighed again, started up the car, and reversed before answering. "We'll run her background when we get back to the office. I don't know, I'm not sure she has the guts to kill someone. I mean, she's a nurse. Aren't they meant to heal?" A beep interrupted Naruto's chance to retort, and the blond picked up his mobile.

_4 missed calls, 1 voicemail message, 3 messages._

Naruto made a 'hunh' sound, and checked the voice mail first. As electronic sounds filtered into his ear, his face slowly lost colour. He put the 'phone down. In a serious voice, the blond said, "Go to the hospital please. Ino's been hurt."

* * *

The blonde was sitting upright in bed, one of those disgusting hospital nighties covering some of her body, and Naruto was suddenly inspired to write a letter to the Chairboard of Medicine about the clothes to skin ratio all hospitals employed. He crossed the squeaky mock-marble floor quickly, and enveloped Ino in a hug so warm and wide that she thought she was going to drown in affection. She laughed, a choked and raspy sound, and the pressure of the hug increased.

Kiba approached at a more leisurely pace, after getting the information that she wasn't in a critical condition. He nodded at Shikamaru, a slump of fabric, spiky hair, and styrofoam cups in a hospital chair near the bed. "Alright?"

"Just _peachy_." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and motioned for Kiba to pull up a chair, even though the detective was already halfway through the action.

"So, what happened?" The married man asked as Naruto started rambling rubbish at Ino with massive sweeps of his arms and a hell of a lot of bastardised Japanese that he hadn't used for years.

The other male shrugged, and Kiba took in the too-thin appearance of Shikamaru's wrists and face, the slightly hazy look in his eyes, and the way a hand gripped at the seat's arm. The hacker had never taken much care of himself, especially when he had a 'case', and Kiba couldn't help but worry. He sighed, sat up and pulled Shikamaru out of the chair more easily than he would have liked. "Come on, we're getting some food." And to his relief and worry, his friend-of-sorts didn't protest even once about the canteen food.

When they finally sat down in the plastic chairs, a sandwich in front of Kiba and a fried breakfast in front of Shikamaru, Kiba broached the subject. "So, what happened?"

Shikamaru tore into some bacon and chewed it lazily, just like he did everything else, before replying. "Some bastard managed to get through the first of my defenses. Ino was going out to the shop to see how things were getting along, and the arsehole jumped her from behind. Tried to strangle her. Fortunately, my backup system kicked in, albeit a few seconds too late, I'll have to work on that, yeah - so, it kicked in, the alarms went off, and me and Tem raced down all gun-ho. He must've heard us coming, 'cause by the time we got there, Ino was on the floor and he was gone. Temari called the ambulance using her police name thing, so it got there more quickly, thank God, because -" Brown eyes looked up at him beseechingly, then dropped down again. "She didn't have a _pulse_, Kiba. For those few min - I mean. She was _dead_. And now here she is, with no permanent damage apart from some bruising to her vocal chords and her windpipe. They say she'll have difficulty breathing for a while, but the bruises'll fade and her 'pipes'll recover and - _dead._"

He viciously tore into some bread and mopped up spilt egg, while Kiba carefully averted his eyes and ate some of his sandwich, even though he wasn't hungry. "Well, she's alright now, mate. Let it go. You know exactly what she'd say if she saw you like this." Shikamaru snorted, nodded, and ate some more. There was a beat of silence.

"So, what was Temari doing there?"

* * *

Ino was laughing her choked, raspy laugh again, and even though tears filled her eyes, he knew that she'd prefer to be laughing than not. He was grinning back at her, another story of his hospital exploits springing to mind even as the curtain that separated them from the corridor was pulled across. He figured it was just Kiba and Shikamaru back from wherever they'd gone, until there was an intake of breath and a figure in pink blurred past his vision and attached itself to Ino, who looked just as shocked as he was.

"Sakura?" Ino's voice was hoarse yet high with surprise, and the pink blur manged to still itself long enough for the features to meld into Sakura's delicate ones. She was still wearing the funeral clothes, but the little twisted knot of hair had undone and lay loose on the back, startling and fine.

"You two know each other?" Naruto couldn't help blurting out, and hearing the snort of derision behind him, found that Sakura had not come alone. He wondered if Sasuke knew he acted and looked like a shadow, and then wondered if that was just bitterness talking.

Ino smiled at him, and Sakura drew back enough for him to discern already familiar points on her face - high cheekbones, delicately pointed nose. "We worked at the same café when we were younger and just kept in touch. Well, more than in touch. Don't you remember that blind date I tried to set you up on five or so years ago? She's the one." He remembered. She'd told him it was her best friend, so he wouldn't make a fool out of himself, but then his brother had come up and he hadn't been able to go. "She's amazing, how do you know her?" Naruto's face went blank. _She's a suspect in two murder cases._

"He's working on the cases of two friends of mine who've died." Sakura filled in for him, and Ino's inquisitive countenance dissolved into one of concern and care. Sasuke took the chance and grabbed Naruto's arm, leading him out into the corridor with the background noise of two females comforting each other. _"I'm so sorry-" "No, I'm the one that should be sorry-"_

Sasuke dropped the hand that had held his arm, and Naruto blamed hospital ghosts for the sudden feeling of cold. By the look of Sasuke's arms and the goosepimples, he thought that the ghost had probably walked through him as well. "Look. Detective. I know what you're thinking-"

"Careful there. Assumptions are made when you assume, and when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me." Naruto said, folding his arms and grinning at the other one, despite the circumstances being less than grin-inducing.

Sasuke gave him a scathing look. "You're thinking Sakura has something to do with these murders. You're thinking Sakura has the ability to get the cards because of her connection to me, and the means of killing them since she knew them both." Naruto raised his eyebrows. "But your thinking is wrong. Sakura couldn't hurt a fly. She's a nurse, for godsake, she heals. And she hates death more than anything, really, really does. It's not her." Sasuke looked almot desperate, though a passing onlooker wouldn't have been able to discern that from his appearance. Naruto wasn't sure how he was able to pick up on it, but figured Sasuke thought it would be helpful for his argument.

"Look. Sasuke. We're both similar, we're both the same." At Sasuke's impatient huff, he continued. "We both collect evidence and make assumptions based on them. My assumptions on the evidence given are that Sakura's a prime suspect for the copy-cat killings. In fact, she's our only suspect."

There was a pause and then Sasuke said drily. "I thought assumptions made both us into asses." Naruto blinked and unfolded his arms.

* * *

Kiba leant back, whistled through his teeth and took a sip of his sweet and milky coffee. "So that's what Naruto wanted to take me over to yours for. Hunh. What's the progress?"

Shikamaru fiddled with a napkin on the table, folding it first into a rose, then a swan, then a box, then a questionaire-flappy-thing that Kiba saw eleven year olds playing with on the street, cupping their hands over their mouths and giggling as the boys kicked a football in the road. "So far, no one seems suspicious. I mean, everyone's got their dark sides, but it's too troublesome to go through. I'm looking through FBIs now, but that's more for idle curiosity over who might be working there. Found a couple of likely suspects but." He shrugged. "You're going to have to work for them." Kiba rolled his eyes.

"So, no one in the department ratted us out? Fuck." Kiba leant back in his chair, balanced on two legs like he was young again, and kicked his legs. Shikamaru gave him a half-hearted glare when a stray foot got him in the shin. "The hell does that mean?"

"Hell if I know. That's _your _job. Mine's _committing _the crimes."

* * *

The girls were giggling over Sasuke and Naruto's sudden disappearance. "Hey, Sakura, could you just go in that drawer there and get me my pants? My 'phone's in there and God knows how many times the manager's called me. Nervous wreck, that boy is."

"Sure, sure." The bed creaked as Sakura lifted herself off of its decades old springs. She winced and patted her backside. "Have I gained weight?" She laughed at the look Ino sent her, and bent down to the drawer. Her knees cracked and Ino laughed.

"Not as young as you used to be, huh? It's in the left pocket." Sakura nodded as she found the jeans, her fingers flicking into pockets already.

"Front or back?" Something tickled the tip of her finger and she frowned, digging deeper into denim.

Ino said something, but Sakura was too engrossed in what she'd found. She stood up, looked at her blonde friend with a solemn expression. "How'd you get this?" She flicked her fingers upright, and the red and black of the laminated card glinted in the hospital light.

* * *

**A/N: **Lord knows what the Sakura-bashers are going to make of this new chapter. Hunh. I still love the girl, 'kay? And if any of you are taking the quotes into account...

SO IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, HUH?

MayaMay, send me an email some time. I'm dying to hear about your trip. And yes, yes, after all that drama with the Ino-happenings, I decided to keep it. It works to my favour. Thank you for the reviews, and the advice, and truly for a little while I lost my love of the whole fandom here. (could you tell? heh) But then Rasengan and Motey brought me back. To see their new collab, please either go on my favourite stories (Catcher in the Norwegian Wood), or favourite authors (iheartrebelz). Yes yes, they may _seem _like a bunch of goons...But they can twist the words much better than me, yupyup.


End file.
